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The bare bones of the tragic story of the lost Supreme, Florence Ballard, will be known to most music fans; the founder-member elbowed aside by Diana Ross, sacked by Berry Gordy, ripped off by Motown, and, on welfare and with a  drink problem, dead before her 33rd birthday. Peter Benjaminson’s book, centred on extensive interviews with Florence Ballard (always ‘Flo’ in his narrative) in the year before her death puts the flesh on the bones with insight, conciseness, and empathy. Growing up in Detroit in a large family with southern roots, Florence Ballard’s church-soaked teenage voice came to the attention...

 In Memphis, there was a period when country and rockabilly prevailed at Hi records, before the label became synonymous with Willie Mitchell, and all things soulful and funky. Producers Quinton Claunch and Bill Cantrell had just left Sam Phillips’ Sun in 1957. They joined forces with country singer Ray Harris and some financial backers to set up Hi. Within a couple years, just before Claunch had left to set up Goldwax and prior to Willie Mitchell joining Hi (initially as a recording artist and then president), a young country / rockabilly singer called Tommy Ray Tucker appeared at the studio...

Heralding the latest arrivals from MD Records, the label that just keeps on giving! An MD update and a few words on the new releases from the boys: Well here we are in May 2020 and how the world has changed! We sincerely hope that you and all your loved ones stay safe in these incredibly challenging times. The lock-down has given us plenty of time to go over things and review our first two years since signing those initial contracts. Seems like a lifetime ago. We are eternally grateful for all your support over this time and want to continue to keep bringing...

  “Looking back, I’m really proud of what we achieved in the 1960s” reflected the late Nelson Lemmond of The Tempests. “We made some great R&B. And played with some great talent too. We never performed with Otis or Wilson. But pretty much everybody else in between. At the end of the day though, things started to change. Otis had died, Martin Luther King had been assassinated. Civil unrest was everywhere and there was a militant atmosphere, even in the more progressive areas of the south. People ended up taking sides.” This feeling echoes previous comments made by various session...

The Centaurs were originally formed in 1964, by neighbourhood friends who attended Brookland Junior High, Richmond, Va. Members were Ron Moody (lead vocals), Gerry Spicer (drums), Donald Wright (bass), Wayne Gary (guitar) and Steve Buckingham (guitar). A horn section was added later which became part of their trademark. The band were signed to Columbia in 1969 for the release “If I Haven’t Got a Dime” backed with a version of Jimmy Holiday’s uptempo “New Breed”, a northern soul and mod favourite.  “Our musical influences were all the soul greats....Jackie Wilson, James Brown, Otis Redding, Sam Cooke, Impressions, Ray Charles, Temptations,...